Shadowwing
by hup2thepenguin
Summary: Sequel to the Silverwing Trilogy and my other story Nightwing.
1. Prologue

Shadowwing

By hup2thepenguin

(Sequel to Nightwing and Unofficial Sequel to the Silverwing Trilogy by Kenneth Oppel)

Prologue

Secret Air Force Base, Maine

A technician sat down at his station with a cup of coffee. He was tired. All night, he had been up watching the computer screen for any potential enemy activity, such as incoming planes, other vehicles, missiles, and radiation.

The technician sighed and rubbed his forehead. He stared bleakly at the never changing screen in front of him. He watched the green lines move about the black background. The technician pressed a button and the screen changed. Now it was showing radiation levels. The entire East Coast was the same blue color, with a few lighter and darker spots here and there. But then he saw something.

Near the US-Canada border, on the Canadian side, was a blotch of red. The technician quickly called for his superiors.

"Colonel," he called, "Take a look at this."

A man walked over. He bent over to look at the screen. The red blotch suddenly grew larger and larger, until it covered half of the state of Maine. Suddenly it was gone.

The colonel narrowed his eyes. He waved another man over.

"Get two pilots over the Canadian border. Tell them to be on the look out for radiation signs," he told the man.

"Sir," said the technician, "What was that?"

"I don't know."

The technician switched back to the radar screen. He noticed a small shape moving towards the base quickly. A plane. Moments later, two more shapes left the base toward the site of the radioactivity. They were the planes the colonel called for. The first shape disappeared from the screen as it passed the two planes.

"Sir, look at this."

"What?" the colonel came back.

"There was an incoming bogy a moment ago, but it disappeared. Could be a stealth plane."

Suddenly the two planes disappeared from the screen.

"What the-" the technician began. Suddenly, the sound of a plane came over the base. There was an explosion outside. All the men in the room crowded around the window just in time to see a cargo plane burst into flames.

Then they saw the enemy plane. It was a fighter jet. But it wasn't like any they had ever seen. The nose was rounded and the cockpit was bulbous. Most of its edges were rounded. On the side, the number 54 was printed. Next to it, in smaller font, "F-89" was printed.

The plane spun around and flew towards the window. It fired a missile. The technician dropped his cup of coffee.


	2. Chapter 1

Part 1

Ghosts of the Past

1

Earlier

Shade dived through the forest effortlessly. He dodged the branches and leaves. Suddenly, a tree loomed in front of him. Shade closed his eyes and dived towards the tree. As he passed through the tree, he became the tree. He felt old and worn. He felt his branches stretched out and leaves blowing in the wind. The feeling passed as he left the tree.

Shade was a ghost. He was dead. But he felt alive. Free. Gliding through the forest. Reaching places he would never have reached if he were alive. But he also felt loneliness. Everyone he saw was alive. His mate Marina and son Griffin were alive. But no one could see him. It crossed his mind why there weren't other ghosts around. Simple, they were all in the realm of the god Cama Zotz. In the land of the undead. Shade would have been there, too, but he had escaped with Griffin after his son had been trapped there. Shade could still remember the endless changing desert.

Shade flew back to where his colony lived. He landed on a tree and could see his family down below. He sighed. How he longed to be with them. Maybe he could, someday.

"Awaken." The voice sounded through endless echoes and space.

"You have been called upon to serve." Once again, the echoes passed through the spherical room.

Lance Corporal Franck Graywing's eyes fluttered. His vision was blurred. He closed his eyes again. He thought he had heard a voice. He was tired. Why? Franck tried to remember what had happened. Suddenly, he bolted up. He didn't why, but it felt like someone had pricked him with a needle. He was in an enormous room. The ceiling was rounded. There was no light source, yet the ceiling seemed to glow. All around him were members from his regiment.

Then it all came back to him. His regiment had been deployed in northern France to destroy a human base, but they were caught in a storm and they had all _died_. They all awoke in this same room. The realm of the god Fleesh. Then he heard God's voice. He told them to sleep. Then, after the sleep, he thought he had heard it again.

"Awaken," the voice said.

Franck stood. His bones cracked. He had no clue of how long he had slept. But he was dead and that didn't matter. The rest of the regiment stirred.

Next to Franck was Sergeant Alain. He sat up and tapped his helmet.

"Hey, Boss," said Franck, "Didja hear that voice?"

"_Oui_," grumbled the sergeant, "Why do you think we're all awake?"

Franck looked down. His metal helmet lay on the ground, next to his belt. He put both on. Through the helmet's visor, he could see the body heat of every bat in the room. Franck noticed that the bats were all restless. He couldn't blame them. They had been sleeping in the room for who knows how long. He could remember the voice of Fleesh saying something about sleeping until they were called for. Now they had been called for.

Already, officers were grouping the bats.

"Archer Company, fall in!" shouted a lieutenant.

"That's us," said Alain.

"Gear up," said the lieutenant, who was named Roland, "We're moving out, but who knows how?"

_I am life, I am peace. You have been called upon to serve._

Those were the words that had been circulating in Dusk's head forever. Like an eternal dream, for he had been hearing those words in his head for eternity.

"Awaken."

Dusk shook his head in his sleep. He thought he was sleeping. Everything seemed like a dream. Perhaps it was a dream. Then he woke. The dim light was blinding for one who had not opened his eyes for millions of years. Dusk squinted. He could barely see. He heard groaning next to him. Suddenly, everything came into focus in a second. Dusk jolted. He shook his head. His neck cracked. He heard the groaning again and he groaned himself. He was sore. Then he remembered everything. The Tree Bark Regiment, the Warriors of the Gods, the flash and bang, and the heat.

Dusk looked around. The members of the regiment were scattered in the round room. Dusk assumed that they had all died in the heat and this was the afterlife the regiment had been talking about. Afterlife was sure boring.

"Rise, my warriors," said the voice. It was the same voice that had spoke before and was stuck in his head. Most of the regiment was awake. The regiment's leader, Lord Shadow, was already standing a little further down from where Dusk was.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"I am life, I am peace," said the voice, "I am you god Fleesh!" The voice got very loud.

The God. Dusk shuddered. So this was the one the regiment believed the Warriors of the Gods were commanded by.

Shadow looked embarrassed.

"My apologies, my Lord," he quickly said.

"Gather your troops," said Fleesh's voice, "You have been called upon to serve."

"Yes, sir," said Shadow. Then he turned around and looked at the many chiropters watching him anxiously.

"Lieutenants, gather your troops. We're moving out."


	3. Chapter 2

2

Franck flew over to where Lt. Roland was barking orders.

"Sir," he saluted, "Any idea how we're gonna get out of this place?"

Roland turned towards him. "_Non_," he said, "But the _dieu_ Fleesh would have a way." He turned back to the other bats.

Franck looked down at his belt. He had a few sharp sticks and metal shards. Hoe they were supposed to defeat the humans was unknown. They had taken metal from them and made helmets and spears. They had also stolen a special human object that could display body heat of any living thing. Somehow, an engineer managed to hook it up to all the helmets of the regiment. Now, they could all see with feature, making it easier to spot where someone was, but it also made things confusing, with all the assortments of color. Franck raised his visor. The colors were giving him a headache.

Suddenly, the room started rumbling. Several bats fell on their backs.

The voice of God filled the room. "Prepare to live again!"

The room seemed to move upward at an amazing speed. Everyone was pushed onto the floor by the momentum. They had been underground. There was a loud crash and they had returned to the surface. The roof of the room disappeared. Outside was the clear blue sky. Franck breathed in fresh air.

Dusk fell back as the room went upwards. He could feel the speed. The room broke the surface and the ceiling disappeared. Dusk looked at the sky he had not seen in millions of years. He looked at the nature and was shocked. The world was nothing like he had ever seen. All the plants were different and the ground was different. The air was different and the smell was too. Several of the chiropters were exclaiming about the view.

Dusk found his squad's Lieutenant, a chiropter named Tark.

"Sir," he said, "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Lt. Tark said quietly, shocked by what he was seeing.

Dusk noticed that around the open room they were in, were several other of the same rooms, but they were filled with bats, not chiropters, but bats. Dusk was a bat, not a chiropter like the rest of his regiment. Many considered him a freak of nature, but after many encounters with other bats, he knew he wasn't alone. Dusk put on his helmet. It had two upward angles scratched on it, designating him as a Corporal. He left the straps loose. If he ties the straps, he would have trouble breathing.

"Spread out," ordered Shadow.

"My squad, form up," said Lt. Tark.

Dusk and a few chiropters followed Tark away from the main group.

"Look for a sign for what to do. The God wouldn't just dump us here," said one of the chiropters, a Corporal named Indar.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar humming sound. It got louder and louder until it became a whirring sound. Then he saw it. It was an immense black _thing_. Dusk didn't know what it was. Judged by the looks of the others, they didn't know either. But dusk had seen them before. It was rectangular and long. On top were spinning blades that spun so fast they became a circular blur. It had white marks on the side, but Dusk didn't what they meant. The front and side of the thing had clear spots and Dusk could see inside. There was a bat in the front. The inside was almost the same as the inside of the object that had crashed in the forest millions of years ago. The side of the thing popped out slightly and slid to the side, revealing a hole into the whatever-it-was. The bat that was in the front stepped to the opening. On his head was a helmet like the ones Dusk saw on the dead bats a long time ago when the larger thing crashed in the forest. On the side of the helmet was a gold upwards arrow. The sign of a Private. But what was with the color? Dusk knew that he would not understand a lot of things in this new world.

"Lieutenant," said the bat to Tark. The bat brought his claws to his head to salute.

"Private Bud Silverwing, Air Regiment," he introduced himself. He looked at the chiropters. "Tree Bark, I presume?"

"That's right, Private," Tark said hesitantly.

"Get in," said Bud, gesturing into the thing.

"What is that, exactly?" asked Tark.

"Oh, this? This is a helicopter. A human vehicle. Well, not a human one, but one designed by Fleesh, the God. This is Rotor-10."

Dusk flew into the helicopter. He had not understood the terms "helicopter" and "human vehicle," but he figured he would find out. There were easily a hundred seats in the helicopter. There were about five levels. Inside, it was dark, but luminous glowing panels on the ceiling provided light.

Dusk felt the helicopter moving. It felt like flying, except something else was doing it for him.

Bud's voice came from somewhere on the ceiling. It sounded like the voices that came from the small black objects that Dusk had found on the dead Warriors of the Gods. "We're going to pick up the rest of your _kompanie_."

"What?" Tark shouted over the sound of the helicopter.

"I said, we're gonna pick up the rest of your regiment."

Dusk looked out of the clear hole on the side of the helicopter. He saw drifting clouds and the tops of the trees. He also saw the unbelievable. There were long straight stretches of black and gray lines going across the endless land. There were bunches of strange, rectangular _things_. Dusk didn't know what other word to use for all the strange things he had seen. The things were huge. Behind each thing was a small field. Some had other smaller things in the field.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Those are _häuser_. Houses. The humans live in them."

"What are humans?"

"_Sie sind eine art von tier_."

"What?"

"They are beasts! Like you and me, just a different species."

"What's with all those weird words you just said?" asked one of the other chiropter, a small fast chiropter known as Private Hujaska.

"_Es ist Deutsch_!" Bud said, irritated, "_Ruhig sein_!"

"What?" asked Hujaska.

"SHUT UP!"


	4. Chapter 3

3

Shade heard the ominous whirring sound of a human vehicle. He spun around and saw it. It was much like the ones he had encountered when he was alive. This one was more rectangular than the other he had seen, but they were of the same kind.

Shade flew up to the vehicle. The moment he touched it, he became the vehicle. He felt the cold wind and the moisture of the clouds. Then he noticed something.

Instead of humans in the vehicle, there were _bats_. Most of them weren't bats, but bat-like creatures. But what were bats doing in a human vehicle. He would have thought they had been captured if a bat hadn't been controlling the vehicle. Shade's head spun. It was a strange sight for him.

Shade listened to the conversation of the bats and the other creatures. One of the other creatures was saying, "If the God brought us back to life, then there has to be a reason for it." Shade felt a funny feeling. _Brought us back to life_. Shade longed to live again. Maybe there was a way.

"Probably," said the bat in the back with the other creatures, "He said something about us serving him."

Then, the bat in the front controlling the vehicle stepped into the part of the vehicle where the others were.

"I've located the rest of your regiment. We'll be landing shortly."

Then the bat turned to him. On his head was a metal helmet, like the ones the humans wore. Over the bat's eyes was a visor. The bat looked at him and shouted, "_Dämon_! _Umbringen er_!" He pulled something off of his waist. It was a human weapon. Shade had seen them before. They fired projectiles and what ever they hit would most likely die. The one the bat had was much smaller so it scaled with the bat. The bat fired. The projectile passed through Shade because he was a ghost. But how had the bat seen him.

"_Sterben,_" shouted the bat. The others in the vehicle were cringing from the shots. They obviously couldn't see him.

Shade quickly flew out of the vehicle. He floated in the air watching the vehicle fly away. Then he followed it. He wanted to know how to live again.

"What was that about, Private?" demanded Indar.

"There w-was a ghost! Right there!" Bud stuttered.

"I didn't see anything," said the chiropter known as Pvt. Grif.

"Neither did I," said another chiropter, Pvt. Loyan.

"I did," said Bud, "With my helmet's visor."

"Ghosts," said Tark, unbelievingly.

"Yes, sir. Ghosts. _Geister_. Is it that hard to understand?"

Pvt. Hujaska turned to Tark. "It's logical, actually. Ghosts are the undead, without the physical body. We should be ghosts, but we have physical bodies. If we were to have left the underworld before called upon, we would not have a physical body. Therefore, we'd be ghosts. Whatever spooked Buddy here was probably a lost spirit."

Tark thought a moment. "Good thinking, Hujaska. You got a promotion for that. Congrats, Corporal." Tark took Hujaska's helmet and scratched a second mark above the Private sign, turning it into the sign of a Corporal.

"Thank you, sir" said Hujaska, proudly. Grif and Loyan looked at him jealously, as they were the only Privates left in the squad. They would be the only ones in the entire helicopter, if it weren't for Bud.

"Let's forget about the ghost and get the rest of the regiment," said Dusk. He looked out the window. He was higher than ever.

"Landing now," said Bud as he went back to the controls.

The descent was quick. Dusk could feel the pressure change in the helicopter. They landed next to Shadow's squad. Bud opened the side, which was called a door.

"Sir," Bud introduced himself to Shadow, "Private Bud Silverwing, Air Company." He saluted.

Shadow stared at the helicopter. Tark stepped into view. "It's okay, sir. This is a helicopter. Something made by the Gods. Come on in!"

Shadow's squad took the seats across from Tark's squad. They flew back up, in search of more groups. Shadow directed Bud in the direction of the nearest squad.

While they were flying, Bud stepped into the main seating area, called the cabin.

"If you don't mind me asking," Bud said, "What are you? You look like bats but your wings are too furry and you have more claws."

"We're chiropters," said Pvt. Loyan, "But Dusk here is a bat, probably one of the first ones ever."

"You see," explained Hujaska, "Chiropters are basically related to bats, but we don't have the ability to fly, just glide. Also, we're don't have the echovision that bats seem to have."

"Echovision would have been very handy back then," said Grif, "We could spot the enemy before they ambush us."

"Hey, you had me," said Dusk, "I've got echovision."

"Too bad we got blown up before it came in handy," said Shadow.


	5. Chapter 4

4

Franck stared at the sky. It had been a while since he had seen it.

"Move out," shouted Lt. Roland, "_Aller_! Get a move on it, God's Regiment."

Franck sighed. They had finally been called back to live again and already the officers were ordering them around. Franck followed Sgt. Alain to where the rest of his squad was. They all had their equipment ready, stolen technology taken from the humans. They had several things that the humans had, such as weapons and helmet visors that could sense heat.

The squad looked at Alain for orders. Alain looked towards Lt. Roland for orders. Roland looked at the leader of God's Regiment, Commander V'ilbar. The Commander looked blank.

"Sir?" asked Roland, "Orders?"

"Stay put," said V'ilbar, "We'll be given a sign for what to do."

Franck sighed. They would get a break first.

"There are several things that you still haven't explained to us," Shadow told Bud.

"_Das stimmt_," said Bud, "There is too much to tell you. But the God will explain everything when we get to the headquarters. Basically, I was the first bat to be brought back to life. Fleesh is the god of all the regiments, you know. I don't know why he chose me, but he did. He created this vehicle for me at the headquarters. It was amazing. He gave it to me and told me to find all of the other regiments scattered all over this area.

"Where are we, exactly?" asked one of Shadow's squad members.

"East coast, United States of America," said Bud.

"Huh?" asked Dusk. He didn't understand any of that.

"It's an area, named by the humans," Bud explained as they prepared to pick up another squad.

By the time they had picked up the entire tree Bark Regiment, the sun had set. It had taken longer to locate the rest of the squads in the dark but they had done it. Pvt. Bud was now taken them to the headquarters where he said Fleesh would be.

They flew down towards a rocky hill, where an enormous cave lay. The helicopter flew right into the cavern.

"This is your stop," said Bud, "I have to pick up the rest of the regiments scattered all over this area."

"What do we do here?" asked Shadow.

"Go down that tunnel right there," Bud pointed towards the tunnel. "It'll lead straight to the center room. That's where the God will brief you."

The helicopter lifted up into the air, leaving the Tree Bark Regiment alone in the unfamiliar world.

Shade had followed the vehicle all the way to the cave. He managed to stay clear of the bat with the headgear. Shade wanted to know the secrets of their so-called God that he had overheard them talking about. He wanted to know the secret of living again. The other Gods he knew, Nocturna and Cama Zotz, did not hint about being brought back to life. The only way he knew to live again was to take the life essence from another being, but he didn't want to do that. Shade entered the dark cave. He could feel an indescribable force, urging him to go on.

"You do not belong," a voice said. Shade looked around. He saw nothing and he was sure that nothing could see him. It was probably someone else talking to another person.

"Why have you come?" the voice said.

"Me?" asked Shade. If he was mistaken about the voice, then no one else could hear him, but if it was talking to him, it could most likely hear him.

"Yes," said the voice, "I know what you seek. You seek life."

"That's right," said Shade, uncertainly. He had no clue who he was talking to.

"You know how to find life. Take the life of another. Why didn't you?"

"Because I shouldn't be dead, so I shouldn't take life as the dead try."

"Why?"

"I died to save my son. He shouldn't have been dead either, if the dead hadn't killed him."

"You died to save the one you love."

There was a pause. Then the voice spoke. "You have earned the right of life, Shade Silverwing."

Shade was surprised that whatever he was talking to knew his name.

A yellow glow appeared in front of his face. Life essence. Shade breathed it in. Suddenly, he felt the warmth in the air. He felt the dampness of the cave. He felt the soft wind blowing. He was alive.

"Thank you," Shade whispered.

"Know this, Silverwing. You did not take this life without a price. You will serve under me, the God Fleesh!"

"What?" Shade exclaimed.

"You will serve the Animal Union in exchange for your new life. Don't worry, you will see your loved ones again, very soon."


End file.
